Children's Home run by Choices Home for Children Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 1 Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It cares for one child with EBD (social and emotional difficulties emotional and/or behavioural difficulties) and may have learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in January 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

One child has lived at the home since registration.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Thorough assessments, planning and effective partnership working before the child came to live at the home resulted in the permanent staff team developing an understanding of his individual needs. In addition, staff had specific training before the child moved into the home. This ensured that they were able to support him effectively. As a result, the child is making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s move to the home was well planned. Staff visited him in his previous care setting and were able to build up a relationship with him. He visited the home before his move. Staff who were previously caring for him also spent time at the home with him. This helped the child to make this a positive move into his new home. He has started to develop trusting relationships with the core staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the placing authority’s child and adolescent mental health services and the provider’s commissioned mental health service to implement a therapeutic model of care which meets the child’s emotional needs. This means that he is developing his ability to understand and manage his emotions and is improving his skills in articulating his feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has not been attending formal education for a prolonged period of time. Staff are working closely with the placing authority’s virtual school team and mental health services to develop a phased reintroduction to education which meets the child’s cognitive and emotional needs. Staff use opportunities on a day-to-day basis to involve the child in informal learning through the use of games and activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Child-centred work is being undertaken to support the child to re-establish relationships with his parents and siblings. Staff work with parents, and the foster carers for the child’s siblings, to make sure that family time is a positive experience for all the children and moves at a pace which meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is subject to a court-directed order which restricts his liberty. Staff make proportionate use of their authority to restrict the child. Since living at the home these restrictions, particularly within the home, have been eased. This means that the child has increasing opportunities to develop his independence skills and make choices in his day-to-day life.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Detailed and clear plans and assessments, led by the registered manager, support staff to provide good-quality care for the child. The registered manager has written an additional child-friendly placement plan which helps the child understand how staff are helping him and celebrates the progress he is making. This is effective in involving the child in his own care planning in a less formal, more child-centred, manner. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 3 Some of the child’s care records use his initials rather than his name. This is not helpful to the child and detracts from the majority of records, which are of good quality.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child lives in an environment which promotes positive behaviour. There have been no incidents of physical intervention with the child. When he communicates his distress or frustration through his behaviour, staff work with him to support him to feel safe again. This helps build trusting relationships between the child and staff and provides him with opportunities to manage his own thoughts and feelings in ways which are more helpful to him.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff spend regular one-to-one time with the child to support his progress in line with his care plan. This time is used, when appropriate, to reflect on incidents and support the child to consider the impact of his behaviours on others.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The physical environment of the home keeps the child safe in line with his court- directed order. It also provides him with a homely environment to live in. The child’s bedroom is decorated to reflect his interests. He has an additional room that helps meet his sensory needs. This gives him space away from staff, which helps him to calm himself and reflect on his feelings.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The back garden provides the child with a secure outside space to spend time. It is not yet being fully used to encourage positive activities and provide a pleasant environment to relax or play.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff recruitment processes are, for the most part, thorough, and leaders and managers ensure that all relevant checks are undertaken. Staff applications for employment are not currently stored on recruitment files. As a result, there is no evidence that their chronology of employment and any gaps in their employment history have been identified and challenged.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There has been one whistle-blowing complaint made by a staff member about the behaviour towards them from a non-permanent member of staff. Leaders and managers took swift and appropriate action in response to this complaint to ensure that the child and staff were safeguarded. However, following this incident, there was a lack of discussion with the individual staff member or the wider team to learn from this incident and ensure that all staff understand how whistle-blowing supports a strong safeguarding culture in the home.

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good

The registered manager is new to leading a home, having been promoted from a deputy manager role in one of the provider’s other settings. The registered manager is a child-centred and empathetic practitioner. He leads by example and is a positive role model for his staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 4 The registered manager has good relationships with staff and is highly regarded. There has been a significant turnover of staff since the home opened, with staff leaving for a variety of reasons. As a result, there has been regular use of non- permanent staff. Although efforts have been made to ensure that the same small group of non-permanent staff are used, this has affected the continuity of care for the child as well having an impact on the permanent staff team.

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good

The statement of purpose has not been updated and sent to Ofsted to reflect changes to the staff team. This affects the regulator’s ability to identify any issues which may affect the running of the home and the quality of care.

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good

Staff are not being supervised with the frequency set out in the provider’s supervision policy. This means that staff are not having frequent one-to-one time to reflect on their practice and the progress of the child in their care.

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good

Team meetings are taking place regularly and are led by the registered manager. He uses these meetings effectively to share information with staff. However, meeting records do not show how these meetings are used to provide time for staff to reflect on practice issues and the child’s needs. As a result, a valuable opportunity is lost to collectively evaluate and improve the quality of care.

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good

Staff have received specialist training from the provider’s commissioned psychologist which has given them the knowledge and skills to understand and meet the needs of the child in their care. Regular opportunities for consultation with mental health services ensure that the staff team have ongoing support which directs and underpins their practice.

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good

The registered manager’s oversight and his understanding of the quality of care are clear in the child’s care records and the wider recording systems in the home. He receives good challenge and support from the independent person, who regularly visits the home. This puts him in a strong position to address any shortfalls and continue to develop the staff team and the practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the registered person ensures that staff are supervised with the frequency stated in the organisation’s supervision policy. 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the child’s care records are recorded in a way that is child-centred and helpful to the child. Specifically, the child’s name rather than the child’s initials should be used in his care records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff are regularly reminded of their responsibilities under the organisation’s whistle-blowing policy and ensure that the whole staff team has an opportunity to reflect and learn from any malpractice that is identified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.9)  The registered person should ensure that one-to-one meetings and team meetings give staff an opportunity to reflect on the needs and progress of the child and to discuss their roles and responsibilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  The registered person should ensure that staff applications for employment are stored on recruitment files to evidence their chronology of employment and any gaps in their employment history. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the back garden is maintained to a good standard and provides the child with an inviting environment that encourages outside activity. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Wellington Road, Nantwich CW5 7ED

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 8 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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